


Dulcina

by anxious_alien



Category: The Originals (TV)
Genre: F/M, Romance, Tragic Romance, and it's kinda Kol/OC kinda not bc she IS technically mentioned in the show?, this is mainly Kol-centric but the others appear briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-16 01:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17540456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxious_alien/pseuds/anxious_alien
Summary: "Did my brother ever tell you about the novice Dulcina? You remind me of her. Innocent girl, beautiful voice... She promised herself to God until Kol caught sight and found her pretty. Within days, she'd broken her vows of obedience and chastity. Within a week, she was dead. He'd grown bored."--But Finn didn't quite have the whole story. There's more to it than that. This is the tragically brief story of Kol Mikaelson's first real love, and his first real heartbreak.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, let's all bear in mind that I don't have the first gosh darn clue about 1100BC Spain and nuns and all that, so I did my best to stay fairly vague. Apologies for inaccuracies in that regard.

The Mikaelson siblings had to flee for their lives once again. This was partly due to Kol and Niklaus and their growing love for bloodshed. Every god damn day, Kol wished they would just go on without him and leave him be. It was Nik that Mikael wanted anyway. What did he care if his brother died?

Okay, fine. He cared a little bit. At least Nik was fun when they were slaughtering villlages.

They picked up Spanish easily enough before journeying here, and began to blend in with the nobility in Oviedo, Spain. If anyone asked, they were simply wealthy travelers from Italy. Or was it England? Or maybe France? It hardly mattered. People believed what they were compelled to believe. People opened their homes to the Mikaelsons eagerly, for they blessed everyone who did with more gold than they knew what to do with. Any maybe they’d even allow those people to live when they left eventually. Maybe.

They’d done this countless times in the past 90 years, so far managing to stay ahead of Mikael. Elijah and Finn gave them all the same speech as always. “Be discrete, stay out of trouble, do your best not to kill when you feed. For the love of god, stop turning people.” They were forever the responsible big brothers, often competing for the role as head of their little family. The three younger siblings favored Elijah though, and it was obvious. Maybe if Finn didn’t so often express open hatred for all of them, they might listen to him once in a while.

Kol thought about that little speech as he set fire to the bodies of the family he’d just slain, a few miles outside of town. If the remains were burnt, no one would know they were drained of blood. This was probably not what his brothers had in mind.

Life was getting easier though. Now that they had a good grasp on compelling people to do as they pleased, and they’d learned a decent amount of control over their hunger (well, most of them had), they could blend in just about anywhere. It was a simple thing to learn the language and customs of new lands. Especially when you had 90 years of practice.

It was dreadfully boring. That was partly why Kol was partial to killing his prey. Especially after chasing them first, sometimes half the night through the woods and occasionally letting them think maybe they got away. And Niklaus, though they often bickered, appeared to enjoy the fun as well. Occasionally Rebekah would even join in, but she was often busy pretending to be a proper noble lady most days.

In recent days in their new home, Kol had taken a liking to wandering around by the monastery, which horrified and angered Finn to no end. He didn’t even have to _do_ anything. He just had to mention he’d stopped by, admiring some of the lovely young women in training to become nuns. Many of them really were quite lovely. It was a damn shame they were swearing a vow of chastity in the name of the lord. Finn glowered at him, and asked that he swear not to harm those poor, innocent girls. Elijah chastised him as well, and told him not to do anything stupid to put their family in jeopardy.

This only made Kol really, _really_ , want to.

Today was going to be that day. He was sure of it. He bid his siblings goodbye for the day, and they regarded his cheery disposition with suspicion. Bodies were always found whenever Kol was in a particularly cheerful state.

He walked around the monastery for some time. It was actually a lovely piece of architecture. That’s one thing that never got old about being immortal. He never would have witnessed this had he stayed a mortal in Mystic Falls for his entire life. He’d be dead by now anyway, surely, magic or no magic.

This was the first day he laid eyes on her. Dulcina.

He paused when he noticed the young girl walking in the sunshine with an older nun. The girl herself was not yet a nun, but was a novice in training before she would soon take up her vows. The girl had stopped in her tracks, nearly causing the older woman to stumble over her.

“Dulcina, what on earth-”

“Sister! Look!”

Kol, suddenly transfixed on the girl, followed where she pointed and saw a small, fluffy baby bird hopping along on the ground. It appeared to have fallen from its nest. He gazed up. It would be far too high up for either of the women to reach, or even see from where they were standing. He _could_ theoretically get the bird back to its nest himself, but why would he do a thing like that?

“Poor dear. Best leave it alone. It’s in the lord’s hands now.” The nun replied, and started on her way again. Dulcina did not move though. She watched the little bird for a moment, and it was in that moment that a cat had stalked over…clearly interested in an easy meal.  Kol could hardly blame the cat. She gasped and angrily shooed the animal away. He felt a pang of sympathy for the feline.

“Oh, can I keep it, sister Isabella? It’s a helpless little thing.”

The older woman, sighed and shook her head impatiently, “You hardly have time.”

“I’ll make time.” Dulcina quickly declared, “And it won’t interfere with my duties, I promise. Perhaps the good lord put me here so that I might save it from that cat.”

Kol had to admit it was a rather charming notion. Not that he cared about some stupid bird. Or the girl. She was just pretty to look at.

He watched her delicately pick up the creature and cradle it against her. As though she could feel eyes on her, she looked in his direction but he was much faster than she was. In seconds, he was sitting on the windowsill on the second story of the building, looking down at her. She looked around, and frowned, but thought nothing of it. Sometimes the mind plays tricks.

“It’ll be your responsibility then.” The older woman huffed, “Come along.”

Kol watched her carry the little bird inside. It’s a fool’s errand. That bird will surely die unless she has any idea what she’s doing, which she probably doesn’t. He doesn’t care though. Not at all.

The whole ordeal distracted him so much that he forgot his main reason for going there. He’d find someone to kill some other time, he supposed.

The Mikaelsons were lucky to find a vacant, rather spacious, manor to stay in for the time being. At least, it became mysteriously vacant right about the time they needed a place to stay. Kol entered their temporary home to find Klaus and Rebekah feeding on two blank-faced young women, while Elijah wrote in a large leather-bound journal he carried around. Finn sat in a chair near the fireplace, and looked at Klaus and Rebekah in disgust.

His attention drifted to Kol, much to Kol’s displeasure. “How was the monastery today, little brother?”

“Delicious.” Kol replied with a sadistic grin. He couldn’t help it. Finn was so easy to bait. “You should go with me some time. You might actually enjoy yourself instead of wallowing in eternal misery.”

Finn tried to reply, but Kol was gone from the room before he could get anything out.

Finn was stupid if he believed Kol anyway. There was not a spot blood anywhere on him. He usually ended up in quite a state after feeding. He wasn’t nearly as neat and tidy as Elijah.

Maybe tomorrow he would go and kill that pretty girl just to spite his brother.

The next day though, he was nearly over the unpleasant interaction and wasn’t feeling particularly vindictive. He still got up early and left the house before anyone could bother him. He preferred to be away from them as much as possible. After all, he was going to have to spend eternity with his troublesome siblings. He certainly didn’t want to spend every waking moment of eternity staring at them.

Before he knew it, his feet had carried him to the monastery yet again. The gates were shut, but that was hardly any matter. He quickly scaled them and hopped down on the other side. No one had noticed. It was still quite early in the day, so fewer people were milling about.

 _She_ was awake though. He found her tucked away in a quiet corner outside of the sprawling building, trying desperately to get her new pet bird to eat something.

“Come on, little one.” She says softly, holding out a hand with some small seeds in it. “You must be hungry.”

As he quietly watches her try in vain, he realizes he could kill her right here and now and maybe dump her body in front of Finn’s door. That would be amusing. It would certainly get a laugh from Niklaus, whom had recently given him the cold shoulder as well for his desire to leave the family and go off on his own.

But something about her just causes him to pause. And she’s going to end up killing that damn bird. She kept pushing it towards the little pile of seeds, and expects it to peck at them, like a chicken.

“It’s best to soak it in water.” He says. She looks up abruptly, and her dark chocolate brown eyes meet his in surprise, and mild suspicion. She knows he’s not supposed to be here. “The seeds, of course. Not the bird. It’s easier for it to eat them along with some water.”

“Oh.” She says, but still looks unsure.

“Sometimes my sister and I would find birds in the forest where we grew up.” Kol tells her, and is surprised by himself, “If we couldn’t find the nest we’d always take them home and beg our parents to let us keep them. We kind of learned to care for them through trial and…error.” There had been a lot of baby bird funerals. But after a while they managed to save more lives than not.

She has a small bowl of water sitting nearby and starts to lift it towards the little bird’s beak. “Oh, not like that!”  Kol says quickly.

He goes over to her and shows her how to soak the bird seed in the water, so that it’s easier for the bird to get down, and then grabs a twig nearby to gather some of the mixture on the end, carefully lowering it to the bird’s now-open beak.

Her delighted smile causes his heart to stop.

He stays for way too long, making sure she understands the proper technique, and tells her that she has to feed it several times a day.

“We are certainly very grateful for your help, señor…”

“Kol. You can call me Kol.”

She blushes because they are hardly that familiar, and she shouldn’t even be speaking to some strange man she doesn’t know anyway. But she grins and looks shyly at the ground and tells him, “Well, you may call me Dulcina.”

They hear bells from a distance and she looks startled, “Oh, I really have to go! I’m so sorry…Kol.”

She hesitates, and then boldly says, “I’ll probably come back here this evening, when my work for the day is done.”

Kol realizes it’s an indirect way of telling him she would like to see him again. It’s quite a daring thing for a future nun to ask. He likes it. Maybe this is the entertainment he’s been searching for after all.

“I’ll keep that in mind, darling.”

For several days, they keep up this routine. Early every morning, and late every evening, they find each other and talk. Kol thrills her with his tales of other lands, and she can’t quite believe he’s done so much for someone who seems so young.  He makes her laugh with stories about his siblings, and the jokes he played on them as a child—he leaves out the pranks involving magic. She tells him that she’s lived with the nuns for years. Dedicating a child to the church was routine for families, and oftentimes simply expected. Dulcina confides that it’s the only purpose she’s ever known. She doesn’t know what she’d do if she were to leave.

Finally one morning, he looks at the bird and tells her it’s probably time the little creature learned to fly and live on its own. “Come with me, out to the countryside today.” He says, “We’ll release it there.”

“I…I have duties…you know, like chores… and lessons…” she says warily, “They’ll notice.”

“I’ll see to it that you get into no trouble.” He’d compel the whole place if he needed to. “I promise.” He just wanted a day with her. Without sneaking around and having to stick to a time limit.

He really can’t get enough of that daring gleam in her eyes when she replies, “Yes. Let’s go.”

She’s positively amazed that everyone who questions their leaving together instantly drops the matter with just a few words from Kol. She believes it’s simply because he’s so charming.

After a few false starts, the little bird who has been hopping a little bit higher and fluttering its wings a little more each day, finally gets off the ground and stays off the ground. Dulcina watches it with pure joy, and Kol watches her in complete fascination. They spend the rest of the day out there, where he discovers she has the most amazing singing voice.

He’s sitting watching her, with his back against the base of a tree as she finishes up a hymn, and she looks at him shyly, “Well, did you like it?” She’s not supposed to be prideful, that’s a rule. But she’s always been a little bit proud of her singing.

“Dulcina, dearest, the angels in heaven must be beside themselves with jealousy when you sing.” He remarks, and it makes her blush wildly.

“You always tell me such lovely things. You are going to make some woman a very lucky wife one day, Kol Mikaelson.” She says, looking down. She looks a bit sad suddenly.

“My family will be leaving this city soon.” He says, before he can think better of it, “Come with us.”

It’s a stupid idea. They’ll never agree to it. And she probably won’t either when she finds out what they truly are. “I’m…I’m to take my vows soon.” She says reluctantly, “I couldn’t possibly leave.”

“Stay with me for a few days then.” He really needs to stop. That’s also a foolish idea. His siblings would ruin it for sure.

“Oh, they’d wonder where I’d gone. The nuns.”

“I can make sure no one even questions your absence. I swear.”

This could work. Surely this could work. He could compel the whole blasted monastery not to notice if she disappeared for a while. He could compel her not to notice when he and his siblings sink their teeth into some poor, unsuspecting souls. If she wished to stay, he would tell her the truth. Maybe she would even want him to turn her. It’s such an impulsive idea, but he can’t quite get this girl out of his thoughts. He needs to do _something._

“Let me show you what you could have.” He says earnestly.

She agrees, much to his delight. He feels like an absolute idiot for being so hung up on this one human girl, but maybe it’ll be worth it. He decides to be sure to show her she can have anything she wants when she’s with him. She’ll never have to lift a finger for anything. She’ll never be bound by all the constraints of human society. Then she’ll surely want to stay with him, regardless of the kind of monster he is.


	2. Chapter 2

Kol leads Dulcina back into the city, and to their manor, and he’s truly excited for the first time in years. Before they go inside, he turns to her and uses compulsion for the first time since they’ve met.

“You may see things that seem strange. My family simply has peculiar dining habits. Any odd behaviors they have will seem perfectly normal to you. You will not speak of it to anyone.” He says, looking into her eyes. He had to admit, he felt a bit guilty. But it was for the best.

Kol throws the door open and offers his arm to Dulcina, who delicately links her arm with his.

“The handsome brother has returned.” He calls out. Might as well get this over with.

Rebekah makes an appearance. She eyes his companion curiously. “What’s this, then?”

“Dulcina, this is my darling little sister, Rebekah. She’ll help you find a room to your liking. Since, I’m sure as a proper lady, you won’t want to share a bed with me.”

He only said it to make her blush again, and she does, much to his delight. “That…that would be preferable.”

“Is this what you’ve been getting up to every day?” Rebekah asks in amusement, “And just how long is Miss Dulcina staying with us?”

“Just a couple of days. She’s exploring her options outside of dedicating herself to the church.” He says with a sly smile. “Where are the others?”

“Oh, they’re off procuring some dinner for the evening.” Her eyes flicker to Dulcina and Kol can see the question in them. _Did you think about that little issue?_

“Right. Dulcina, I believe I mentioned my siblings’ rather challenging appetite? Remember, you needn’t worry.”

“Of course.” Dulcina replies, happily oblivious. Rebekah rolls eyes.

“Well, come, let me help you get settled.” She takes Dulcina’s hand and looks back at Kol, “If you’re hungry, there’s a snack leftover in my room.”

 _Thank god._ He’d forgotten how difficult it was to be around a human all damn day without ripping their throat open. He hurries to Rebekah’s room and finds a half-conscious man covered in bite wounds. _Good lord, Rebekah._

The scent of blood hits his nose and he’s at its mercy. He’s never exhibited control a day in his life. He hopes she doesn’t mind when he drains the last of the blood from the man’s body at leaves the corpse on the floor. He’d been absolutely starved.

Finally refreshed though, he goes down to the kitchen and gathers something for Dulcina to eat, and takes it to her. Rebekah had apparently loaned her a gown to sleep in and she looks a little bashful at Kol seeing her in it but she happily accepts the food. Downstairs, he can hear that his brothers have returned, presumably with humans to feed from and ultimately compel to forget the evening. He decides to keep Dulcina up here, away from that ordeal. They talk for a while, and finally he shows her how to get to his room if she should need him, and escorts her back to her own room.

“Remember, you can sleep the day away tomorrow if you want. No duties to attend to.” He reminds her with a grin. “And I’ll bring you anything you desire.”

He goes back to his room and tries to get to sleep, but honestly? He’s an anxious wreck. As long as he could convince his family to allow her to stay, he was determined to keep this girl. He hadn’t felt so strongly about anything in a long time.

A soft knock interrupts his thoughts, and he sits up in bed. Slowly, the door creaks open and Dulcina’s eyes peer at him.

“Are you alright?” he asks. Has Niklaus gone and pestered her? He’d knock the idiot senseless.

“I feel a little silly, but…” she walks further into the room, “I’m not quite used to sleeping in such a large room all on my own. Every little noise makes me jump out of my skin.” She gives a shaky laugh.

She _has_ to know that this is probably not a situation she should be in, and any good daughter of the lord should turn around right now and go back to her room.

At least Kol knows this, but Kol is only human. Kind of. At first he thinks she’s definitely lost her mind and he should not take advantage of such a situation. But as she takes another step forward, he sees something in her eyes. Perhaps she’s not so naïve after all. Perhaps she knows exactly what she’s getting herself into and she’s just fine with that.

Wordlessly, Kol moves over in the bed, to allow her plenty of space, and she climbs beneath the blankets. She’s left a good amount of space between them and they lay there staring at each other in silence. She reaches up and touches his cheek.

“I’ve never met anyone like you, Kol Mikaelson.” She whispers.

He smiles, “Is that an insult or a compliment? I’ve heard it said as both.”

And then he can’t take it anymore. He pulls her closer and cautiously places a kiss on her lips. He half-expects her to pull away. She doesn’t move a muscle at first, but then slowly returns the kiss, running a hand through his hair. Whatever promises she’s made to the lord are quickly forgotten as they pull each other closer, and he feels her run her hands over his body. Within minutes, he’s working to get the gown up and over her head and quickly removes his own sleeping garments. She does not seem to mind at all.

He flips her onto her back and positions himself above her, placing a trail of kisses down her neck and along the swell of her breasts. Then he stops and looks back her face, and feels obligated to ask. Which is absurd to him, because he usually never double checks as long as a girl seems quite willing enough.

“Do you want this, Dulcina?” he whispers, and hopes to god she says yes because he doesn’t know how much longer he can handle this waiting.

“Yes.” She breathes, and he captures her mouth with his yet again. Slowly, he pushes inside of her while carefully watching for her reaction as he starts to rock his hips against hers, pushing a little deeper each time.

Some time later, he’s lying on his back, while she’s curled up against his chest and he vows he can _never_ lose this woman.

For three days, he’s in absolute bliss. He introduces her to his brothers, and she even manages to charm an extremely wary Finn with her singing. For three days, they lie in bed for _hours_ , exploring each other. For three days, they’re inseparable, with the exception of the times he needs to go off to feed. He needs to tell her soon, because there are times he can hardly be around her without thinking of the blood pulsing beneath her skin. That was the hardest thing about wanting someone so badly. It was difficult to discern between typical lust, and bloodlust. Every night when she fell asleep, he’d carefully climb out from bed and find some unsuspecting stranger out on the street to devour. He had to, or he was sure to lose her.

The fourth night is where it all went wrong.

He decided he had to tell her. Everything would be fine, it had to be. They’d confessed their love to each other just the night before and they could overcome anything now. He had to tell her the truth.

“Dulcina, love.” He said quietly, as they lay together in bed. “I’ve got to tell you something.”

He sat up, and so did she, and they faced each other in the dim candlelight.

“The things you’ve seen my siblings doing the past few days, the things you’ve seen them doing to other people…I want you to see those acts for what they are.” He said gently, lifting the compulsion that had kept her in ignorant bliss.

Her eyes searched his in confusion for a moment, and then widened in realization. And then in horror. “They…they were…” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Yes.”

“What about you, Kol?” she asks, and he can tell she wants him to deny that he is one of those monsters as well.

“I’m the same. We cannot age, Dulcina. We cannot die. But we must consume the blood of others. It’s the only thing that satiates our hunger.” He says, quickly before he loses his nerve.

She stares at him in silent shock.

“Dulcina, I would never hurt you. I would never let any of them hurt you either. I meant it when I told you I loved you. I want you to stay with me. Stay with my family, and we can see the world together.” He’s never meant anything more than he means those words. He’s never wanted anyone so badly. He reaches out and takes her hand in his.

She jerks away.

“No.” she whispers, with tears in her eyes, “No, no, no. This can’t be. Kol, I watched your brother kill a man. I remember it now. Tell me, have you done this as well?”

He wants to lie, but he doesn’t think she’ll believe him. “I can stop. I can never kill again if that’s what you want.” He can’t believe he’s even saying those words. He’d never believed he could stop.

She jumps up from the bed, terrified by his words. “You’re…you’re some kind of demon.” She turns to run and he’s blocking the door in an instant. He can’t let her go now, not without compelling her first. That’s all he means to do, but she’s horrified by his supernatural speed and stumbles backwards. She falls and crashes against an old mirror propped up against the wall. The glass shatters and slices her arm open.

And Kol hasn’t fed yet today. And god, he’s never bothered to learn self-control. He’s never had a reason to until now. The moment the scent of her blood hits the air, he can feel his facial features change, and it’s clear from the horror in her face. For a moment, as he slowly steps toward her, entranced by the blood running down her arm, he can see his reflection in the broken mirror. He truly does look like a demon.

A voice in the back of his head is begging him to stop. It’s _his_ own voice but he doesn’t recognize it. Not when he’s like this. He can’t stop. He doesn’t come to his senses again until well after she’s in his arms, and his teeth are in her neck, and it’s suddenly so quiet.

He can’t hear her pulse anymore. That’s what snaps him back to sanity. Kol looks down at what he’s done.

“No.” he whispers frantically, and rips his wrist open with his teeth. “No, you’re not dead, Dulcina. Come on.”

He pries her mouth open and lets the blood flow into it. “Drink, Dulcina. Please. Just drink, dammit!”

Of course, she doesn’t. He even waits a while, holding her body close to him and silently begging her to come back. He even prays to her stupid god. He hopes that maybe just enough blood has gotten to her that she’ll wake up and be like him. She might hate him at first but she’d still be alive.

Dulcina never wakes up. Kol closes his eyes, and breathes deeply, trying to get a clear head. He has to face his siblings, and he can’t let them see the shame and remorse on his face. They wouldn’t know what to do with that anyway. They’ve never seen Kol feel remorse for anything. With a blank stare set on his face, he cradles her lifeless body and walks out of the room, and down the stairs.

Elijah is the first to see him. “Kol!” he stands up, seeing the body, “What happened?”

“I thought…”  Rebekah starts, but she can’t finish the sentence.

“You seemed quite taken with that one.” Niklaus says, finishing Rebekah’s thought for her.

“She couldn’t bloody well come with us when we leave, could she? It’d be terribly impractical.” Kol says, keep his voice nonchalant and careless, “And she begged me not to take her back to the church. Not after the things we had done. So I granted her request.”

“Did you fools really think he would change?” Finn scoffs, “Typical. That poor, foolish girl.”

Kol plasters a cruel smirk on his face, “See? Finn’s got the right idea. The rest of you should take notes.” He can be the sadistic psychopath. That’s what they expect of him.

With that, he leaves, and carries her in the night out to the countryside. The same spot where he sat under the tree and listened to her sing. He lays her down and comes back an hour later with a shovel and buries her right there. He’s coldly methodical about it. He doesn’t even bother to mark the grave.

For centuries after that, his heart turns to stone once more. His penchant for murder and bloodshed increases to the point that he finally has to be daggered a few times to keep his family out of trouble. He doesn’t care. He secretly hopes Mikael kills them all, including him. It’d be a welcome mercy.

He doesn’t allow himself to feel the spark he felt with Dulcina for nine hundred years. Not until he’s standing in New Orleans, in a body that’s not his own, watching a girl walk out of St. Anne’s church looking as though she has the weight of the entire world on her shoulders. Hidden from view, he watches Davina Claire as she brushes past some dead flowers and stops. She touches the wilted petals thoughtfully, and then looks around to see if anyone’s watching. Thankfully, she doesn’t notice him. Discreetly, she uses her magic to bring the plant back to life. The delighted smile that lights up her face sparks something in him all over again, even though he knows he has a job to do involving this girl. There’s something special about her anyway, even if he’s not quite ready to admit that yet.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have two other fics that I neglected so I could write this whole damn thing based on ONE thing Finn said in The Originals and I'm not sorry.


End file.
